SOUDAN- After 45 years serving on the town board, most of that as chairman, Tim Tomsich may not be spending as much time in the Breitung Community Center as he once did, but his service to the community will not be forgotten.
The Breitung Town Board, at their meeting on March 20, voted to rename the township’s town hall, fire hall, and community meeting space as the Timothy Tomsich Community Center.
Tomsich sat at the supervisor table for the last time at the start of the meeting, but as soon as the board got to new business and the new supervisor Steve Tekautz was sworn in, he took up a seat in the audience.
“Mr. Tomsich has provided time, talent, and energy to make Breitung Township infrastructure more sound, the community safer, the opportunity for recreation more abundant, and accessibility more commonplace,” said the board’s resolution.
The board also honored retiring treasurer Jorgine Gornick, for her 30-plus years of service.
Both Tomsich and Gornick will continue to serve the township outside of their former roles. Tomsich will help with grant writing, as needed, and Gornick will help manage the water billing accounts, though she will “retire” from that job later this spring for a few months, so she can qualify for her PERA pension. She then plans to resume those duties after a set time period.
The township is planning a retirement party for Tomsich on Saturday, April 12 from 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. Brunch and cake will be served.

Reorganization
The board held their annual reorganization, making a few changes to committee assignments, but keeping most wages the same, including for township officials and fire department officials. The board did vote to increase the amount paid to the township water department manager to $1,200 a month, based on the amount of work it was determined was actually required.
Supervisor pay stayed at $550/month, with the chair salary at $650/month. Fire department monthly salaries are $425 for chief, $375 for assistant chief, $400 for training officer, $250 for fire captain, and $200 for fire lieutenant. The clerk salary remains at $27,000 a year and the treasurer at $26,000 a year.
The board did change their regular meeting day to the third Tuesday of the month at 6 p.m., after new treasurer Teresa Dolinar had a conflict with the existing Thursday meeting day.
Matt Tuchel was named chairman and Erin Peitso vice-chair. New supervisor Steve Tekautz was named to the joint powers wastewater board, McKinley Park liaison, and joint powers recreation board. Peitso was named to the ambulance board, joint powers wastewater board, and will remain as the township recreation area rep. Tuchel will serve as the township’s project inspector, with Tekautz as an alternate.
The board selected both the Timberjay and Tower News as legal newspapers.
“My feelings are we would like to make both papers our official papers,” said Tuchel. Then we reach everyone. This is not something we have done in the past.” The Timberjay bid $1.99/column inch for legal notices and $3.99/column inch for display ads. The Tower News bid $2/inch for legal notices and $3/column inch for display ads. The township spent less than $1,000 on legal notices last year, and that included some notices printed in the Timberjay, which was not the township’s legal newspaper at the time.
Other business
In other business, the board:
• Heard that the new water filtration plant filters will be installed in April.
• Heard that Tuchel is working to get the Public Facillities Authority to readjust the loan vs. grant amounts for the water filtration plant project, since the authority used the entire township’s population, not just Soudan proper, in the calculation. Only households in Soudan proper are part of the water/sewer system.
• Maintenance supervisor Tom Gorsma said while water temperatures are climbing in some locations, at others they are still close to freezing, so those residents need to continue running water.
• Heard the skating season is over, but the rink was open for 50 days, and hosted seven skating parties with great attendance.
• Heard there will be some extra cost for the planned bike trail connection between McKinley and Hoodoo, due to some rerouting needed by the airport.
• Received a $69,000 donation from the Prospector’s Trail group to help pay for the Thompson Farm Rd. project.
• Heard that the first two of the township’s FEMA reimbursement claims are being processed for payment but that they are still waiting to hear on the Junction Rd. costs. Clerk Amber Zak reported that the money spent for repairs on Church St. are not eligible for FEMA reimbursement, since they claimed the culverts had not been properly maintained.
• Passed a motion to purchase 11 new sets of turnout gear for $71,499. The fire department is also looking at grant programs that might help cover this cost. Tuchel abstained from the vote.
• Discussed a request from Kugler Township to provide fire coverage to the northern section of Kugler. The fire department did vote in favor of the request, and the town board will investigate options further.